The Pretenders announce 2009 North American tour

After a six-year gap in between this year's Break Up the Concrete and 2002's Loose Screw, The Pretenders seem to be working at an accelerated speed these days. The band's well-received ninth studio album was recorded in a mere 12 days, prompting Chrissie Hynde and company to announce a lengthy U.S. tour early next year in support of it.

Why the sudden swell in productivity? In a recent interview with Rolling Stone, Hynde admitted it had been far too long since the band had recorded anything new after its handful of tour dates in 2007. "Frankly, it was just embarrassing that I hadn't had a record out in so long," she said.

Other interesting tidbits revealed: Hynde left London, her home for 35 years, to resettle in her childhood home in Akron, Ohio. She's apparently also a big fan of southern rockers Kings of Leon. "I was so glad to love something again," she said of the Tennessee-based band. "But there are a lot of artists that I love for their original spirits and voices, like Amy Winehouse. She's a gas."

The current tour line-up consists
of Martin Chambers, James Walbourne, Eric Heywood, Nick Wilkinson and,
of course, Hynde. Those dates: